About five years ago, British rapper Skepta hinted at retirement from music. Now, the hip-hop legend has addressed the speculation and made a bold declaration about the future of his career.
In a conversation with Complex UK—for the outlet’s first-ever cover story— Skepta (whose real name is Joseph “JP” Patterson) made it clear that he’s not going anywhere. “I don’t think I’ll ever retire,” Skepta replied when asked if he was actually considering hanging up the mic.
“I don’t do music as a hobby,” he continued. “Music is how I think. If my card declines right now, as I’m buying this bottle of water at the airport, a mad lyric will come into my head. That’s just how my mind works. It’s how I move, how I express myself, and how I enjoy my life.”
“Obviously, I’ll have breaks and take time out whenever I need to rest my mind, but I’ll never retire from music,” Skepa added.
Skepta has no plans to retire
Complex noted that the initial retirement speculation came from some social media posts Skepta shared in 2021. Fans began to wonder if the rap star would ever record another album. It had already been three years since his previous record, Ignorance Is Bliss (2019).
Now, Skepta is about to drop a new album, The Fork and Knife, his sixth studio album. Speaking about the record to Complex UK, Skepta offered some insight into the record and what fans can expect.
“I feel like there’s less fantasy on there, for sure,” he asserted. “Sometimes I can write stuff and go into fantasy mode. I’m trying to think of a lyric in particular… Like, ‘Make your belly look like a bowl of spaghetti.’ Sometimes I go a bit mad with it, but this time, I feel everything I’m saying is purposeful. I have a way of saying something how we’d normally say it, in everyday life, and making it sound like a bar.”
“And sometimes I can just MC, you get me?” Skepa asked rhetorically. “I can get into that mode where I’m just spitting bars, but then I can also say something like, ‘Sitting in my car, so bored, nothing weren’t popping on ends/Unlocked my 3310, unlocked it, then I locked it again.’ I’ve got ways of saying stuff like that and making it sound wavy. So on this album, I’ve just done that. Rather than MCing all the time, I’ve been talking my s**t.”
“There’s turn-up stuff on there, of course, but it’s still just me talking. I’m not in fantasy mode,” he added. “I’m just talking my s**t, like I’m sitting in the car with you the whole way.”
Photo by Cesc Maymo/Redferns
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